But when the studios inevitably throw a new monkey wrench onto BDs and my 83 can't even load/play them, that will be my problem.

You might want to invest in AnyDVD HD to rip problematic titles to HDD with simple menus: it gets around the studio BS.

Whilst there is no software yet to convert a full Bluray into the FAT32 files required for Oppo 83 playback, it is possible to do it currently with ClownBD to create a movie-only structure (as long as it is not Dolby Atmos).

Shouldn't be too long before Dolby Atmos is solved and software supporting full disc rips available: that should take the Oppo 83 into the future a bit further.

Generally there is no issue with the Oppo 83 hardware, just the way the studios author the titles, so as long as you can bypass the authoring, you are golden.

I purchased my BDP-83 in May of 2009. About a year ago I started keeping a disc in the tray because of the sticking problem. It finally got so bad that I sent the player in for repair. It was a two-week round-trip, though Oppo turned it around in a day. I only payed for shipping to them, and I got a new Oppo shopping bag out of it.

The letter they sent with the repaired player said they repaired the loader frame and loaded the current firmware (BDP83-60-1110).
The player arrived with a blu-ray disc in the tray, "Modern Family", season 1, disc 3. I've asked them if they want it back.

I plan on keeping this player for two more years, then replacing it with a new Oppo that does 4K. My Panasonic 768p plasma will be ten years old then and due for a replacement too.

Just wondering if anyone here know the answer to my question. Thanks in advance.

Nothing changed in that regard. In addition, the 83 allows you to roll back to older firmware. So if you DID find something you couldn't stand in the new firmware you could just re-install the prior firmware.
--Bob

Same here, Toshiba HD-A35. Great machine, which still works well. I bought the 83 because I wanted a BD player as good as my HD machine.

As an owner since 2009, I think they've fulfilled that promise. I just got the last (November 2014) update to deal with not being able to play some branching titles (Transformers for me) and that fixed it.

Most manufacturers don't support beyond one model / revision back, so to me that they restarted the furnaces for the 83 since it was important to owners was a good thing.

Not just the 103, any player that was not designed (because the spec didn't exist) to play 4K sources won't play 4K sources.

If you want to play 4K sources, then you will need new hardware. Firmware can't overcome hardware limitations.

If you already have a player (the 83) that played all titles and is now beginning to not play some titles due to the authoring from some studios, then probably you will want to get a cheap player if those missing titles are critical.

I've moved up to a 103D and that works great for me, but I did that for many other reasons than just straight BD play. If you only want BD play, then a cheap player may be the answer for you.

Money was tight then for me (freshly divorced) and has stayed that way (two kids in college). I just believe in buying quality in the selected things that are valuable to me.

I think it's important to keep track of what things cost at the time. My A35 cost 265 in 2008. The 83 was 500. The Panasonic DMP-BD35 was 350.

So if you wanted a bluray player then, the differential you paid was 150.

During the intervening years, we've gotten not only bug fixes, but new capabilities (DVD-A, SACD, DLNA, ... ) through firmware updates. It was like getting the latest model at the time for free. Upgrading to something capable of that at the time (2011?) would have been expensive (Denon) or not possible (Sony). All of it would have cost money.

To me, Oppo delivered in keeping me at or ahead of the curve for quite a while. The 93 was a nice step up, but not enough for me to upgrade. That came with the 103D.

If you're happy with the bluray play that you get from the 83, you can keep it and play it. I wanted to use the 103D for video processing on other (cable, HD-DVD) signals, wanted to play with the Darbee and all of its network play features. The streaming apps are a plus, especially as processed through the video+darbee processors.

The bluray play, though is equivalent with the 83 in PQ.

If you're really displeased with the whole 83 price / performance thing now, and the math (differential of 150 / 5 years = 30 per year) doesn't make sense, then sell it.

I can see people selling their 83's for 3-400 online, so for five years you'll have 300 minus the 150 differential (unless you would have preferred to not have bluray the last five years) = 150 extra to buy a Sony middle of the road model.

I have taken time to think things through and I have to admit I lost track of time. In July of this year I will have the BDP 83 for 5 years. That is not bad considering that I owned 6 players in the 5 year period leading up to 2010. I had a RCA DVD Recorder with HDMI that was $329, RCA HDV 5000 that was around $500, Toshiba A2 that was $378, Toshiba XA2 that I got for $600 from a local TV dealer, LG BH 200 that was close to $1000, and the Pioneer BDP 320 that I got from Amazon for around $180.
So considering what was spent in the past then I have to admit the OPPO was a good buy and is still working like new. I do want to purchase the 103D before all this 4k crap comes out. I figure if the 103D lasts as long as the 83 I should be in good shape for a number of years. I am also keeping the 83 since the player has worked so well for me.

"You lose it in here you're in a world of hurt"

Last edited by Jed1; 02-15-2015 at 06:52 PM.
Reason: Forgot that I had the Pioneer BDP 320. Silly me as I still use this player.

Hey... I like Modern Family, but haven't watched any for years. I'm commenting because I thought it quite interesting they used a MF BD for some kind of test. MF S1-3 (all I have, and all the same authoring-wise) BDs are probably the slowest loading BDs out there, on the BDP-83, for technical reasons Oppo knows and probably why they test with them. If the 83 can load these it'll load "anything" standard.

Just a random question---do ALL 83s run into the tray problem eventually? I bought mine in April 2010, and I've never had an issue (fingers crossed).

IIRC it was a bad batch of drives that got into production. Mine failed within a couple of weeks after I opened the box. I called Oppo and sent it back and they cross shipped a brand new unit. I was without for about 24 hours and this one has never had the problem.

Just a random question---do ALL 83s run into the tray problem eventually? I bought mine in April 2010, and I've never had an issue (fingers crossed).

Mainly the earliest players do. About 6 months after release the loader was changed and the problem no longer occurred. You can tell by the firmware revision numbers, but most 83s do not have the problem.

So considering what was spent in the past then I have to admit the OPPO was a good buy and is still working like new. I do want to purchase the 103D before all this 4k crap comes out. I figure if the 103D lasts as long as the 83 I should be in good shape for a number of years. I am also keeping the 83 since the player has worked so well for me.

I upgraded from the 83 to the 105 about six months ago and while I'm enjoying the better DAC's and features of the player the 83 is still going strong in the 'B' system and will for years to come I imagine.

I've also owned mine since 2009 and is still our main BD player. I did have the tray loading problem last month, took it apart and realized it was just the belt. Gave Oppo a call to get original specs on belt. They said that they would send me one. What I received was a new belt, New tray cover, and full instructions which I didn't need but was impressed. It took less than 5 minutes to complete. I think anyone could easily make the change, but if worried, Oppo will do it for you.

Oppo really has great customer service. Also agree like some others posted that there was no way for Oppo or any company to predict Atmos. I've only had problems with two discs, and only my newest player in another room could play them. My other 4 all had audio problems even with latest FW.

I've also owned mine since 2009 and is still our main BD player. I did have the tray loading problem last month, took it apart and realized it was just the belt. Gave Oppo a call to get original specs on belt. They said that they would send me one. What I received was a new belt, New tray cover, and full instructions which I didn't need but was impressed. It took less than 5 minutes to complete. I think anyone could easily make the change, but if worried, Oppo will do it for you.

Oppo really has great customer service. Also agree like some others posted that there was no way for Oppo or any company to predict Atmos. I've only had problems with two discs, and only my newest player in another room could play them. My other 4 all had audio problems even with latest FW.

What happens is there are some audio drop-outs. The latest disc I had with problems was John Wick. Another disc that had problems with audio dropouts was the re-make of Total Recall. But, that's just 2 BD discs that I have out of over 600 BD's that I have (and over 1000 DVD's that of course have no problems).

As mentioned, I have only one player that was able to play it, and it's under a year old (from Panasonic). Our other 4 Panasonic BD players that are also 3+ years old could not play those same discs without audio dropouts.

I'm not complaining at all, I put our BDP-83 through a LOT! It's played at times over 3 movies per day since 2009 and has not glitched except for the tray loading problem which was just a stretched out belt from lots of use (thin rubber belts will just become stretched over time regardless). Again, it was a very simple fix and the player works like new!

I have asked these questions (AVCHD/BDMV folder structure playback from ext. FAT32 drive, DVD-R, BD-R, SACD-R) from Oppo US. I will let you know if they give me an answer.

My own experimentation suggests AVCHD or BDMV folder structure will play like a genuine disc, with full menus, from a FAT32 drive, if the files are properly split into 4GB max pieces. The difficulty is properly splitting the files as each playlist needs to include the extra files and there mustn't be an overlap with other adjacent files.

This can currently be achieved for movie-only titles using ClownBD, but unfortunately there is no software that will automatically convert a full Bluray disc and keep the menus.

Dolby Atmos is an additional fly in the ointment as the demuxers currently can't handle it.

Will be interesting to see what Oppodigital say, but since FAT32 playback skirts copyright issues, they may not be able to say very much when it comes to Bluray playback.

I have asked these questions (AVCHD/BDMV folder structure playback from ext. FAT32 drive, DVD-R, BD-R, SACD-R) from Oppo US. I will let you know if they give me an answer.

And the Oppo's answer is

Quote:

This firmware only address the Wrong Disc error message on some Blu-ray titles. Otherwise, there are no other changes, so the current capabilities that you are enjoying, the same limitations that may annoy you, still apply to this firmware release.

OK - I do recall reading about seamless branching issues with the 83 & 93 models. I did not realize it was directly related to Dolby Atmos & TrueHD titles with seamless branching. Thanks.

In spite of the fact that people keep equating the dropout issue with Atmos, it has nothing to do with Atmos and the players can bitstream 7.1 Atmos just fine. Any disc, Atmos or not, with 7.1 THD and complex seamless branching will have dropout issues.